Note:
Matters become colossal when all ESP units from around the world
must fight a league of demons not brought up from Inferno by Laertes
but by Lucifer himself. Even the Archangels are called to fight in
this unbelievable war. Normal people are shielded from the havoc
that this causes. After all is said and done, Charlie inexplicably
goes "Home" and Persephone becomes the new mascot to ESP. She is
heartbroken though, because Charlie is gone. In fact, there is a lot
of mourning because they know they won't see him again until they
themselves die. Persephone believes that it is unlikely she will
ever have love again like she did for Chuck, but in walks a bit of a
rebel, a shape-shifter by the name of Julian Burk , and love happens
again, particularly when he saves her from the one thing that can
kill a reaper…breaking their scythe or shattering their own
hourglass.

"And
I saw before me a pale horse, and the name of which sat upon it was
Death…"—Revelations

"The
Highlander" Angus (Gus) McGee: second in command, married to the
chief, expert in swords fighting, military strategy, and killing
rogue vampires, as well as werewolves, 30 years old, Scottish,
Catholic, Spiritual, wields a sword named Mac Duff

Rebecca
McGee (Becky): daughter of the chief and second in command, 13 years
old, paranormal expert, gamer, tomboy, Irish/Scotch, can draw
pentacle shields with anything, including lipsticks, Catholic,
Spiritual

Rupert
Odekirk (Ru): Godfather and babysitter to Becky, a highly religious
and spiritual man, psychic, and gifted with supernatural abilities,
45 years old, African American, tamer of wild spirits, expert in
African folklore, wields a spiritual spear. Is a Shaman, and had a
wife named Ester, but she unfortunately died. He has never loved any
other woman after her, and has no children other than grandchildren
from his half-brother Leonard.

Charlie
"Checkers" Zangula: Resident rock n' roll ghost, never became
famous, was accidentally run over by a bus while crossing the street,
died young, played rather good music, expert at the guitar, crooner
type voice, left behind a beautiful wife Susan and fraternal twins,
Nicholas and Rosanna) is peeved that other people can't hear him
or see him unless he possesses someone. Possesses the youngest
member of the ESP with permission to perform concerts when nothing
very exciting is going on. Used to be quite the lady-charmer even
though Susan was his one and only love. Tends to be a bit protective
of the one he possesses and the rest of the team, and is flattered he
became their 'mascot'.

Nadia
Stein: Like the others, can see and communicate with spirits, and is
the resident tech expert, number cruncher, and treasurer, Jewish and
Wiccan, can heal others with her abilities, 10 years old,
neighborhood best friend of Becky.

"Lady
Death" Persephone (also known as 'Reaper Sephie'), an 'undead'
reaper who acts as an ambassador between the living realms, dead and
undead realms. She's a tour guide to the underworld. She's a
rather chipper reaper, and slays rogue demons when necessary, age,
approximately over millions of years old, but looks fresh and perky,
like she's 27.

Francis
"Franny" Quimby: A very intelligent woman over 30, with 2
children of her own (May and Jay, fraternal twins, she has her hands
full). She keeps records for the ESP and manages calls when they are
away on lunch. Some wonder if she ever sleeps and how she manages
from staving off caffeine highs. Her favorite 'drug' of choice,
Mountain Dew. She is Australian, and quite witty with remarks, very
funny. Her husband Bernie works as a powerful CEO in one of the
city's best law firms, and is by no means a shyster. Can be a bit
motherly at times, which is to be expected.

Wolf
Raintree: A half-Cherokee boy who joins the ESP thinking it would
liven up his boring suburban life. He gets a bit more than he
bargains for. Is 11 years old, and begins to develop a crush on
Nadia, which later develops into a romantic relationship. His spirit
animal is, appropriately, the wolf, and wolves often protect him when
he is in danger. He can also communicate with werewolves.

Kafka
Dietrich: A Crusnik (otherwise known as a vampire who feeds off the
other blood of vampires) who works as an 'off site' member of the
ESP 'unofficially'. His slaying of rogue vampires takes some
business away from the ESP, even if it is unintentional. He is of
Russian/German/Slav descent and can speak numerous languages, has
lightning intelligence and wit as sharp as a sword. Is many
millennia old like Persephone. Despite being so 'old' he moves
quickly and slays his victims painlessly. Is a friend to mortals and
considers Angus one of his closest allies. Once saved a younger
Angus from being killed by a vampire driven by bloodlust. This was
long before Angus became a slayer and Kafka was his teacher. Often
times, Angus refers to Kafka as "teacher" in the utmost respect,
or even deems him travarich, which is ancient Russian for friend.
You don't hear this archaic term much anymore except between the
closest of friends and it transcends mere friendship, delving into
blood-ties, like siblings.

Julian
Burk: Once a mortal man was gifted unexpectedly with the astonishing
ability of shape-shifting that was given to him by a shaman after he
saved their village from deadly vipers. Julian has an innate ability
to speak and commune with animals, and even the most deadly creatures
will not harm him. His closest friend is a simply spectacular
Burmese python named Bruce, who he keeps at home.

Chapter
1—Departure and Arrival

Charlie
had decided to date Persephone against his better judgment because he
loathed seeing her sad. He felt slightly guilty for dating her, but
strangely, he had fallen in love with the cute little reaper. It
was irrational, but coincidentally and strangely enough, her big
heart of gold had reminded him of his late wife, Susan. He had been
so pleased that he suddenly realized he was departing the physical
world to rejoin her. There was nothing Persephone could do to stop
his departure, but she did see him off with a sweet kiss.

"Sephie,
sweetheart, I'm really sorry about this. It looks like I'm going
back Home…", Charlie stated, with some sadness. Persephone
tried to hide her tears. She felt even worse when she realized she
would have to tell the others their "mascot" had gone back to
Paradise. At first, she felt foolish for falling for him but
quickly overcame that when she knew telling the truth was the only
way to solve this problem even if it was difficult.

She
teleported from the city to the office, right on time with the rest
of the gang she had come to know and love so well. Even if she was a
reaper, she had to admit that human beings were fascinating, and this
lot was the most interesting that she had ever encountered in all her
millennia of existence.

With
a heavy sigh and a great deal of melancholy, Persephone told her
friends that Charlie had departed from them. They had all been
immensely affected by this, particularly Nadia. Nadia had been the
one closest to him, figuratively and physically, and she was going to
miss him most of all.

"He
wouldn't want us to be sad though. We can't spend the day moping
about. Besides, we have cases to solve and people to help.", Nadia
stated, drying her eyes. She was absolutely correct. Mr. Zangula
wouldn't have wanted them to be bogged down by tragedy. His
departure was only a new chapter in the lives of the ESP. Granted,
he would be missed, but they were happy he had found rest at last.

The
next day had been another busy one for the ESP team, but as daybreak
came, the calls were fewer. At that time, an unexpected knock was
heard at the door of the building. Rupert, who had just finished
helping some poor soul cross over, decided to answer.

"Welcome
to the Extraordinary Supernatural Police. I am Rupert Odekirk, and
pleased to make your acquaintance.", he stated jovially. The
shape shifter's eyes sparkled merrily. Most often, they were the
color aquamarine, but at times, they changed into topaz, his favorite
color. His long hair was the color of the ocean, dark cerulean, tied
in a ponytail. He dressed casually and seemed no more than 20 years
of age, perhaps younger. If one didn't know better they would've
thought was still a teenager.

The
shape-shifter, Julian thought it was high time a business like the
ESP existed on Earth, but he had wondered what had kept human beings
from creating it. He sighed, these things take time, but
nonetheless, he found it refreshing that he had stepped into such an
accepting environment. They never even gave him a second look upon
being asked whether he was immortal or not, or whether he was human
or mutant. It didn't really matter, since everyone here was
family. So far, he knew he would love this establishment.

Of
course, Julian Burk had to go through interviewing process but the
process was short. Before Julian knew what he had gotten himself
into, he was part of the ESP team and just in time too. He caught
on quickly and learned from the others about how to handle certain
criteria and circumstances, but the motto of the ESP was: "Always
expect the unexpected". Indeed, the unexpected was what always
occurred.

Chapter
2—Nightmares and Reality

Cases
had come and gone "normally" if one can use that word to describe
a paranormal activist's life. The evening had closed and the
early-bird ESP workers could get to work with anything the night-owls
missed. This kept everyone busy and on schedule, even if there
wasn't any money involved, except for pure, honest gratitude, which
was payment enough.

ESP
teams from all around the world had trouble sleeping. They were
plagued by horrible visions of a coming apocalypse. They knew of
many different prophecies and interpretations of those prophecies,
and their nightmares contained one central figure, Lucifer himself.
For the longest time, he was thought of as simply myth, but the
lucid dreams were more than just simple reveries. They were actual
portals to what was to come if the teams from around the world didn't
stand together and fight.

Inferno
was becoming more unwieldy and unruly than it had ever done before.
The King of Devils himself, Lucifer, was responsible.

"I
am well aware that Armageddon isn't scheduled until a later time,
but I really don't want to wait for it much longer. Besides, the
humans are doing part of the work for us, so there really isn't
that much to be done !", Lucifer said to one of his 'secretaries'.

"But…Sir,
you know you can't go against the ruling and power of the Almighty.
It's just not done ! Do you really want to face the repercussions
?", the squat chubby demon questioned, straightening his tie.

"To
make the answer simple, yes. I do. It doesn't concern me who
gets in my way. There will
be a new reign.", Lucifer said, clutching his fist as it burst into
flames.

"I
wonder what we will rule over.
By the time he finishes with his attack, there probably won't be
anything left to rule…", the demon thought, nervously sweating.

"Something
the matter, Brutus ?", Lucifer questioned, noticing his attendant
was looking a little piquant and perspiring a bit.

"N-no.
Not at all, Highness. I just have…a lot of paperwork to complete,
but don't let me get in your way.", Brutus said, his tiny bat
wings carrying his tubby body away. In a puff of black and purple
smoke, he disappeared and Lucifer continued working his way through
the outer rungs of Inferno until he reached the inner circle. It was
going to be a long, long
distance before he reached the door between the netherworld and
humanity, but by the time he made it, he would be more than ready to
see mankind fall.

Elsewhere…

Persephone
with her unlimited psychic power had been able to teleport every last
ESP member to be gathered in the city to wait for Lucifer to make his
appearance. For the first time, Sephie had an expression of fear in
her usual jovial demeanor. Even though she was scared, she stood
her ground with the rest of the units from around the globe. She
feared they wouldn't be enough to fight against Lucifer and his
league of demons.

Archangels
from all corners of infinite paradise swarmed together to appear on
Earth to explain the gravity of this battle. Lucifer was intent on
destroying earth by usurping it demonically. The Angels would have
no part of this, but being more powerful than those who dwelt in
darkness, there was no other option but to fight far above the earth
from a safe distance, at least a couple of galaxies away.

Chapter
3—Helpless but Hopeful

Every
person who had nothing to do with the oncoming war of angels versus
demons hid in places that they thought would provide them shelter
from any fallout if there was any. Many of the ESP members that
wished to fight were upset that they couldn't fight alongside the
heavenly forces, but they had been forbidden to participate. In
fact, all ESP members (including reapers, who could usually get past
such things as impediments to outer realms) were sealed in Earth to
see the result of the action from down below.

"You
know, this really sucks
! I wanted a peace of the action, but now it looks like I wont even
get that chance.", Persephone stated, with some disappointment.
Just then, a rogue demon came unexpectedly from behind her and
snatched her hourglass.

"Lucifer
is gonna be so proud of me…You'll be one less reaper we have to
deal with !", the emaciated smartly-dressed demon said with a
wicked cackle. Julian, quickly shifting his form to confuse the
demon, came from his blind-side to uppercut him.

"Not
if I have anything to say about it you won't !", Julian said as
he shifted to his original form and returned the hourglass. The
demon looked hurt and confused.

"W-w-w-what
are you, some kinda freak ?", the demon questioned, scared out of
his mind, and rightly so, since demons didn't quite understand the
nature of shape-shifters.

"No,
but if you try anything else, I'll do more than clock you.",
Julian said, in a slightly-warning tone. The demon's pride was
bruised and he disappeared. Persephone, elated to have her life
back and falling instantly in love with the hero, laid a huge kiss
upon Julian's lips.

"I
appreciate the favor m'lady, but now is not the time to be
celebrating.", he said, as he noticed more meteors start falling
from the sky in broad daylight.

Snakes,
fish, and other unusual elements fell from the stratosphere as well.
The fish were harmless but the snakes weren't. Many of the ESP
members had their hands full killing off snakes before they could
poison anyone, and with the meteorites coming in closer to Earth,
there was trouble. The only ESP members that weren't pre-empted
by eradicating snakes were the original ESP team and they were
becoming enervated.

"Look,
we can't give up ! If any of those meteorites hit us, we're
toast. It'll be worthless that the angels even heard our prayers.
They will have nothing left to save !", Becky stated, as an
observation.

"She's
right. I know we can all do this together.", Mushu said, taking
his hand into hers, causing her to blush. Nadia wriggled her
eyebrows as she did the same with Wolf and soon a circle was formed
and they began to chant. Their energy field was enough to destroy
any meteorites coming in, fragmenting them all to pieces.

Outside
Earth, Within Another Galaxy…

The
heavenly wars seemed to carry on for days until Lucifer's forces
had become overpowered by the light of the angels. Suddenly there
was a blinding light from above and the devils along with their
leader had been sent down back into Inferno where they belonged. It
wasn't much later when the Archangels appeared, merely smiled at
the people who had watched the battle and then disappeared
themselves.

"I
take it that means that we can rest easy, at least for the time
being. This doesn't mean that evil is finished. Not by a long
shot.", Deidre said, pleased her prayers had finally been answered.

"Mom
! Don't do that in public !", she whined, and the rest of them
chuckled as they watched life resume to its hectic pace in the city
and everyone resumed their chores, errands and jobs that keep the
city running.

Epilogue

Armageddon
had been put aside as a childish notion and nothing more than a fairy
tale a couple of days after the battle against the angels and demons
had been waged, and no one had remembered how spastic human beings
could truly be when responding to the phrase "the world's going
to end".

Fortunately
for the rest of mankind, ESP members never
forgot an important event like the one that had happened only 2
months ago. Evil never slept but it was what maintained balance in
the world. The ESP could manage to let small mischievous acts slip
without becoming too concerned, but as far as Lucifer figured into
things, he, along with Inferno itself, was also becoming a children's
fairy tale. He was kept happy with what little mischief he could
inflict and actually was happy he had such worthy adversaries as the
mortal ESP unit. This unit would continue for so long as there were
souls to inhabit the earth, and hopefully, that would be until time
had no meaning. After that, nothing really mattered since there were
plenty of nightmares to brew within Inferno and plenty of souls that
needed to be tortured.

As
for the ESP, they remained steadfast to any changes happening within
the spiritual world. More and more new members joined as the veil
between the natural and supernatural thinned. Nowadays, it wasn't
so mysterious to consider the metaphysical in life. At least now,
the world was becoming more equal than it had been in the past, and
that was all because mankind was discovering their spirituality all
over again.

The
End

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